‘Themify’ your value introduction (AKA Elevator Pitch)!

When you (or your employees, board directors, members, friends, family) introduce your value, meet someone in an elevator, make a cold call, design an ad, share content, or just tell people what you do, what do you say? What your market cares about, of course! We call it ‘themifying’ your value.

THEMIFY

Here are some more detailed tips to help you develop your Themified Value Introduction – otherwise known as an elevator pitch:

• • Be Your Best Customers – what pains and desires do they have? What emotions do your solutions evoke? Example: Worries about safety, relief of big bills or big hassles, assurance of maintaining a standard of living, sense of well-being, a long healthy life, need for more time/money, relief of frustrations, etc.
  • Rather than what YOU do, communicate what’s in it for THEM – the market you serve, replacing ‘I’ and ‘We’ with ‘You’, ‘They’, ‘Them’, ‘People’, ‘Clients’, ‘Customers’, ‘Professionals’, etc.
  • Keep it Clear and Concise – Briefly answer each of the 5 W’s that will help your audience know where to file you in their minds and inspire them to begin a relationship if they or their connections have a need
    1) Your market’s PAINS
    • What – What needs, desires, feelings, emotions do the people you can help have? (‘Frame the Pain’)
      ‘You know how’, ‘If you are like most’, ‘Have you ever’, ‘Our clients tell us they want/don’t want’
    2) Your UNIQUE solutions in terms of what’s in it for them
    • Benefits (instead of the feature ‘we have 100 years of experience’ use ‘our clients rely on our 100 years of experience for…)
    • Emotion (‘People know, feel, like, love, enjoy, are relieved, are excited, are energized…’) Try these Why Words
    • Why – Why people work with you or choose you over others – what is your ‘unique selling position’ This should answer the questions ‘who cares’, ‘so what?’ and ‘how can you make life better for me or people I know?’ 
    • Alleviation of the pain (‘Clients count on us to… help, fix, assure, guide, clarify, save, fill, …’)
    3) How people can EASILY work with or refer you
    • Where – Your market (client type) and, if it applies, scope and geography
      Example: businesses with 1 million in sales or above, with 10 or fewer employees, in Ohio
    • When – If it applies, are your solutions available now – on a specific date – in relation to something?
    • Who -Name, Company, Feature/Tag Line – Keep it short and use the time for identifying their pain and what’s in it for them to use your products and services
    • How – How can they easily take advantage of your products and services
      • Provide samples, examples and/or a website to visit for more information
      • Give them a discount card, flyer or brochure
      • Let them know of an easy action they can take for a special offer
  • Practice – You practiced to become a pro at what you do. Be a pro at sharing what you do!